Bored with your usual French Bordeaux or Côtes du Rhône wines? Mix it up with these fun light-hearted South African wines.

I picked up a bottle of Bored Doe recently as the name gave me a giggle and reminded me of my April trip to Bordeaux, France.

Bored Doe and Goats Do Roam are produced by the Goats Do Roam Wine Company, part of the Fairview Winery, a 3rd generation family-owned wine and cheese farm, in the Paarl wine district of South Africa about 45 minutes from Cape Town. The Goats Do Roam wine, a Côtes du Rhône-style bend was created in 1999 as another label of Fairview.

“It all started with a suggestion by a wine buyer to Fairview Winery owner Charles Back. The man humorously suggested creating a Rhône-style blend called “Goats do Roam”. Back saw this as an ideal opportunity to explore areas of the Cape winelands yet untapped. The finished product was always going to be more Cape than Rhône as Back is proudly South African but he also has a quirky sense of humour, which led to the creation of the first Goats Do Roam label. Many with great amusement interpreted this as a friendly jibe at the French but ‘Not so’, says Back.”

So where does the name come from? “The ‘legend’ goes that some errant members of Fairview’s long-established goat herd got out when Charles Back’s son and friend left open the gate to the paddock. The little group happily roamed among the vineyards, showing rare discernment by selecting the ripest berries off some of the choicest vines.” Sounds like the Yemen goat herder who’s goats discovered the first coffee beans. :)

Goats do Roam wines hit the U.S. in 2000 amidst protest from the French government regarding the registering of the trade names in the U.S. After initially threatening to block distribution, the French withdrew their protest because of the media coverage it was generating. It all worked out… Goats do Roam wines are the highest selling South African wines in the U.S.

There are currently 12 wines in the line up including red, white and rose. Bored Doe Vintage 2008 is a combination of 4 wines, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc creating a red wine that is heavy in the glass (14% alcohol) with nose and taste of red fruits, tobacco, and oak.

Cheers to a giggle with your glass!

*Source: http://goatsdoroam.com/